Posts Tagged ‘Armageddon Dub’

Oh jeez, has it been a whole year already? Well, 2013 sure flew by fast I can tell you and I can’t say I remember that much on account of pretty much working my ass off for these past 52 weeks. In fact I once again had to go through the blog in order to check up on what happened and when because it’s all kind of a blur to me. So here we go:

February saw the release of Sal Canzonieri‘s book Electric Frankenstein, compiling posters and record sleeves made for them during the period of June 2005 to December 2013, but I’ve still to receive any confirmation that my contributions are in it. Check it out on Amazon.com.

March saw the initial demos for my faux-OST L’Isola die Morti Viventi being created, starting out with A Modest Tribute to Fabio Frizzi. Meanwhile I finished up most of the tracks for the Adventures of Superseven and Sandra West soundtrack album and released the doomsday-dub Armageddon Dub, with a b-side featuring some drumming courtesy The Jimmy C.

April kicked off with the release of the super-silly EP Squawky – featuring one of my personal fave b-sides The Name is West. A teaser-taste freebie of the coming soundtrack album was released and the They Call Me Superseven OST was released mid-month. The web series ran a successful campaign on Kickstarter, generating funds for the third season. UK label Dead by Mono‘s third installment of No Way Out! saw the physical debut of The Norliss Tapes with the track A Trip to the Moon. Me and UK photographer Robert Boud crossed paths resulting in some pretty cool collaborations. The end of the month saw the release of Call Me Greenhorn’s new-wave-ish Chasing the Dawn EP, originally slated for inclusion in an Australia-produced feature, but somehow that fell through. The poster I created to commemorate the launch of The Bigfoot Diaries live radio show was released in a limited edition.

Yikes! How’s that for a list? Gee, no wonder I’m tired. But then again, I am quite enjoying myself and hopefully people out there enjoy what I create as well. Got more cool things happening in 2014 and I’d appreciate you joining me to check ’em out. ‘Til then, Happy New Year!

Hey, check it out: I was recently approached by UK photographer Robert Boud to produce a track for his upcoming video based on the series The Holocaust. We collaborated earlier this year when he used Call Me Greenhorn‘s track Armageddon Dub for his brilliant series Aftermath Apocalypse (a match made in heaven if you ask me), and yesterday saw me finally having the time to sit down and produce something fitting for his project.

Entitled Cutthroats at Midnight I did a sort of weird blend between the horror synth sounds of John Carpenter and the Jamaican dub stylings of King Tubby. On paper it may look like a pretty damn unlikely combo, but I think it kinda works. Got a nice, menacing feel while still delivering a groove of sorts.

The video will be out later this year (I think), I’ll get working on a couple of more tracks to have an EP’s worth of material to release on Call Me Greenhorn DUB, and in the mean time give the track a spin below.

Whoa Nellie! Well, I’ve been made aware that I have a tendency to blitz through things and just don’t leave enough time – or room – to fully promote the stuff I do. I gotta admit that is a character trait of mine. I’m so engulfed in the creation part of the process that once I’m finished with it I kinda just leave it and move on to the next thing. So with that in mind, here’s a sampler of what I’ve done lately and your chance to catch up with it all:

A brand-new, bit darker track that won’t appear on the coming S/T album due to be released in June. Check it out on my SoundCloud as well.

Call Me Greenhorn – Here Comes Gorbot (video)

New video for the CMGH2 aka The Abandoned Project album directed by Robert Griffith from The Adventures of Superseven and Sandra West, starring Olivia Dunkley and Jerry Kokich – the latter as Gorbot. Good fun! Check it out on my YouTube as well.

Call Me Greenhorn – The Titan Was Deemed Unsinkable

The first “darker” track that actually will be included on CMGH‘s debut. I love 70’s Jamaican dub and I’m satisfied with the results. Check that one out on my SoundCloud while you’re at it.

Call Me Greenhorn – Armageddon Dub (video)

And finally we have the kick-ass video for Armageddon Dub directed by brilliant UK photographer Robert Boud. His haunting imagery was a perfect fit for this track and I’m so stoked he agreed to do this. Check out the single on my Bandcamphere and the video on YouTubehere, and make sure to visit his official page for a taste of his other works!

So there we go! Make sure you spread this around and stay tuned for more updates!

I looked and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him…

Yes, here we go: Proudly announcing that the video for Call Me Greenhorn‘s Armageddon Dub is now up and running! Directed by Robert Boud it’s based on his great photo project Aftermath Apocalypse and fits the bleak industrial sounds of the song just perfectly. I already written about how the song was conceived, but my stats show you guys sure don’t like to click stuff, so it all began with me trying out both some new parallel processing techniques as well as getting to know the utterly insane Russian VST Molot one weekend, getting an initial basic track finished late on Friday evening and going to bed ending up having the worst nightmare in years.

With a heavy Walking Dead feel, the nightmare kinda freaked me out and I spent that Saturday trying to re-create the desolate feel of it and ended up with a weird, industrial soundtrack to go with the pretty standard meat-and-potatoes Dub rhythm track. Totally satisfied with the results I was kinda taken aback by the sheer darkness of the damn thing and am still scratching my head how it just kinda jumped out of me. Where the hell did that come from? Anyway, as much as I like the song I’m not adding it to the coming full length as its feel just differs from the rest of the material too damn much.

Now, if you wanna talk synchronicity let’s rewind roughly two weeks where I’m a bit bummed out about not having the equipment to edit new Greenhorn videos (I switched computers early 2013) and am trying to figure out just when and how to get something rolling when I jot down my little post about the Necronomicon Ex Mortis iPhone Case and wouldn’t you know somewhere in the UK was Robert reading it, clicking “like” and the next thing I’m checking out his portfolio and being blown away by his work – with the rest being history. Like I already stated he was perfect for the job as his imagery fits the feel of the song so good it’s eerie.

Now, this is exciting! Just got word from UK photographer Robert Boud that the first rough-cut of his video for Call Me Greenhorn‘s Armageddon Dub has been finished and is ready for an initial “screening”. This is awesome news and I am giddy as hell about it. His original project Aftermath Apocalypse Photography looked nothing short of stunning and got me approaching him about this project to begin with. It’s gonna be great! Stay tuned!

Speaking of the “single” – yeah yeah, Grampa still finds it surreal to call a digital release something that used to mean a physical product – it’s still available via Bandcamp.com, so check it out here, make sure to share and “like” and visit me on Facebook as well. The single:

I’M EXCITED AS HECK TO ANNOUNCE that UK photographer Robert Boud will be directing the video for Call Me Greenhorn‘s Armageddon Dub based on his Aftermath Apocalypse Photography project. He’s perfect for it as his imagery fits the feel of the song so good it’s eerie.

copyright Robert Boud 2013!

Drawing inspiration from surrealism and horror, his portfolio shows work that is dark and powerful without ever resorting to cheap shock value. It’s thought provoking and visually stunning – disturbing pieces of art, but art nonetheless.

I am thrilled beyond belief to have him do this for me and can’t wait to see the finished results. Make sure you check out his portfolio at robboudphotography.wordpress.com. I’ll keep you updated on the video as it progresses.

Yeah, things are moving along somewhat satisfactory at Camp Sellergren (more info about that when it’s been solved), and in the mean time I actually managed to put out a bonus release: Call Me Greenhorn‘s Armageddon Dub! Yup, the track was initially posted in it’s raw form on my SoundCloud some time ago, and even though my sentiments about it hasn’t changed a bit – it’s just too damn dark! – I gave it a spin and decided it worthy of release, albeit on it’s own and those who feel they can take it can feel free to do so. I still love what I achieved with it and the extra beef in its production is a result of getting heavy with that crazy Russian VST Molot.

Now, I already written about how this song came about – read it again here – so I’ll focus on the second track Trinity (Once Upon a Dub) that spent a good time just collecting dust on my computer. Starting out with some great drum fills The Jimmy C sent me, I set out to do a mix of heavy 70’s Jamaican dub and a sort of tribute to 1960’s Italian spaghetti westerns. (Yeah, I thought it sounded insane too, ha ha ha!) Anyway, add some great Lee Perry-esque horns courtesy The New York Brass – I just had to phase them! – and there ya go! The intro is pretty cool and really throws you off as it progresses into something completely different than what you’d initially expect.

The sleeve was actually quite simple to create. Immediately wanting to do something along the lines of the iconic graphics used by The Clash for their great batch of 7″ singles released between their first and second album (FYI: Complete Control, (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais, Clash City Rockers + the 1979 The Cost of Living EP), I googled ‘ruins’, ‘Armageddon’ (boy, is that movie popular!) and finally found some WWII photos on Wikipedia that looked fitting. Considered to be in the public domain, I made a collage out of various bombed out buildings etc., and wrapped it all up by adding the similar sort of crazy color schemes and fonts used by the band.

Now, I am aware that Dub is an assorted taste, but personally I love it and think it’s a damn unique art form or musical genre as it is the only one to my knowledge where the mixing console itself becomes the main instrument. The concept spans the world these days, but remixing actually has its roots in what geniuses like King Tubby and The Scientist were creating in make shift Jamaican studios throughout the 1970’s – in Tubby’s case using equipment he built himself! – so if you’re the slightest curious about this phenomena please do check them out!

Anyway, available via my Bandcamp so check it out here, and I uploaded a taste on my SoundCloud here, so spread the word and share if you like it. The single:

Wow! Yeah, with food being ready to cook and guests arriving at any minute, I’m gonna be brief. This year has been pretty amazing and looking back I am honestly astonished and proud of my efforts these past 12 months. Jeez, no wonder I’ve been tired, ha ha ha.

January started off with two teaser videos for The Norliss Tapes and a jingle (my first!) for French radio show Megawatts (check it out on YouTube). February saw The Cymatics Euro tour and the release of the 3-track EP Sugar Punch (later on discontinued, but I’m not gonna get into that). March saw the debut of The Norliss Tapes with A Little Bit Tipsy, featuring a kick-ass organ courtesy Staffan Segel, and the video soon followed. I also made the sleeve for German fanzine Ox Magazine‘s CD compilation Ox Fanzine Compilation #101.

The second quarter saw the release of Norliss’ second video A Trip To the Moon and The Cymatics Hang Out appeared on the Ox compilation CD mentioned above. After a week’s vacation in April, Bad Robot EP was released with the A Trip To the Moon EP being released prior to that. After May I’m actually surprised to see that June produced nothing (!!!), but to be honest I have no idea why.

July kicked off with The Norliss Tapes getting in touch with the producers of The Adventures of Superseven and Sandra West leading to a fruitful relationship that goes on to this day. And personally this opened up the world of creating soundtracks for me – something that I am really interested in pursuing in the future. I finished the sleeve for the Herz und Liebe EP – thanks to the gorgeousEva Halloween – and The Norliss Tapes wrote the first track specifically for the S7 series – Space Pussyfoot. July also marked the debut of Bad Robot as it was the first track to be featured in the S7 show, namely Operation: Live to Die Another Day. August saw the release of the experimental QUAD – The Norliss Tapes Spatial Stereo Mixes 3-track EP, plus Bad Robot once again being featured in the S7 double episode Op: Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill. After yet another week’s vacation in September I joined The Bigfoot Diaries‘ editor-in-chief Troy Church on air as we discussed corporate music and radio on The Fallon Forum, The Norliss Tapes released the Herz und Liebe EP, and both Bad Robot as well as Space Pussyfoot appeared in the end credits of the S7 series. I also chipped in some $$$ on Kickstarter to help finance Scott Crawford and Jim Saah‘s upcoming documentary Salad Days: The Birth of Punk Rock in the Nation’s Capital to be released in 2013.

The final quarter saw an amazing amount of productivity that actually surprised the heck outta me when I finally had it written down on paper. The Norliss Tapes released the It’s Halloween EP (complete with a video) in October, I finished two videos for the Bad Robot EP, found the time to do the Haunted House of Horror’s Horrific Halloween Twist-a-Rama! podcast (available on MixCloud), wrote a second song exclusively for the S7 series (Superseven in Space Theme), plus saw more songs being featured in the S7 series. Troy Church got in touch and commissioned Halloween-themed artwork for The Bigfoot Diaries and once the Halloween EP was released I sat down to remix and remaster my old hardcore outfit Gå Vidare till Norrmalmstorg‘s sessions and the Blästrad EP was released – complete with two videos. After an interview with punkoutlaw.com regarding GVtN’s EP in November and the video for The Norliss Tapes Groovy I immediately began work on my first solo effort entitled Call Me Greenhorn. The debut S/T EP was released (with two videos of course!) and work on the debut full length began with Australian musician Jamie Coghill aka The Jimmy C providing the drums. The Norliss Tapes had more songs featured in the S7 series but November also saw Call Me Greenhorn’s Here Comes Gorbot debuting in the show. I finished the Armageddon Dub but made it available on my SoundCloud as I deemed it too dark to be included on the full length. December saw me beginning work remixing three tracks for an upcoming EP – finished during my two weeks of holiday vacation – and GVtN was approached by a German label expressing their interest in including some tracks on an upcoming compilation slated for release in 2013 – to which we said yes.

So, yeah, this is gonna be yet another one of those posts aimed towards the fellow audiophile, so all you normal people can move along while us nerds drool and whatnot.

Recently I find myself getting almost a Hunter S. Thompson-esque air when it comes to the Molot tube compressor I wrote about earlier. Using this insane piece of technology on everything from drums to the final stages of mastering I’ve kinda adopted his body language and spout off “oh you magnificent beast!” in the same way good ol’ Doc used to talk about Cadillacs and .357 Magnums. I love this gadget. For all its unruliness and unmatched depth of ugly this takes whatever comes through it and sends it straight off to that “whoa! territory” I’ve mentioned in an earlier post. This is a wild buck impossible to tame. Pure masculinity. No holds barred. You just gotta buckle up, buy the ticket, and take the ride with a big grin on your face, ha ha ha.

So with that hunk of Russian primeval just ready to pretty much hurt anything I might point my finger at, plus me reading the great interview Sound on Sound did with French madman Phillippe Zdar about mixing The Beastie Boys‘ great (and final?) album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, I was curious to try out his mixing technique – especially submixing sounds by splitting an audio source into threes (lows, mids and highs) and treat them with a different chain of EQs and compressors. Even though I’ve never been much of a rap/hiphop fan, the Beasties are totally different because they (1) have a unique approach to the form that keeps it interesting and (2) have a genuine punk/hardcore background giving them a street cred that no PR staff in the world can fake, resulting in a musical style that’s energetic and raw. Listening to that album I was blown away by its creativity, the variety of the material and just how dense the damn thing sounded. So of course I had to look it up, read up on the techniques used achieving it and then find an excuse to take what I’ve learned and just try it out.

As soon as I came home Friday afternoon I started working on a dub song using a classic drum loop and pretty much spent all evening working on it. The initial try had me ripping off my earphones again of course ’cause that damn Molot is kinda like dealing with a 900 lb gorilla trying to quit smoking, but once I had the levels right and started getting into it – using mainly tube compressors, expanders, a classic spring reverb and the occasional dub delay – I knew I was onto something. Cranking up the volume the track sounded hot, dense and just jumped at you. I went to bed around 1:00 am and oddly enough had my first nightmare in years. I summed it up earlier Saturday morning on Facebook, so ‘scuse me while I cut and paste:

Wow. I woke up way too early today on account of having my first nightmare in years. Ironically (’cause I don’t believe in the Mayan ‘The World ends in December 2012!’) I found myself in a quiet post-apocalyptic world, sneaking through the streets (’cause if you start hollering out who you are and where you are before you’ve gotten your bearings or a firm grasp of the situation you’re a damn idiot) trying to figure out what the hell had happened.

After breaking into a TV-station I saw videos of chaos, politicians desperately trying to maintain the illusion they were in control (while their bodyguards/police/military were being torn apart by brainless maniacs in the background), tv-presenters crying as they reported the latest updates and then just silence. No specifics mentioned but after all the initial chaos it all just went out like a lightbulb.

And I am aware that it’s anticlimactic but that was the horror of the dream. The silence. Cities completely devoid of life. The horror and unbearable sadness of waking up one day with everything just gone and no one to explain how or why.

Yeah, I agree. I definitely gotta cut back on the weekly amount of The Walking Dead episodes. Anyway, drawing inspiration from that I dug through my old industrial samples and worked out something that would’ve fit the horrific scenario. The title Armageddon Dub was pretty much a given. It turned out fine but way too dark and industrial-sounding for what I had in mind for the Call Me Greenhorn full length. I’m on the fence about it right now, but I’ll make up my mind about including it or not some time soon. It’s available via SoundCloud, so check it out and please share!